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From: ughtas@diablo.amd.com (Tom Stewart)
Newsgroups: comp.graphics
Subject: IIT 2C87-20 in rendering (fat or muscle)
Message-ID: <1990Aug3.185628.29023@mozart.amd.com>
Date: 3 Aug 90 18:56:28 GMT
References: <1990Aug3.094410.11616@cs.columbia.edu>
Sender: usenet@mozart.amd.com (Usenet News)
Reply-To: ughtas@diablo.AMD.COM (Tom Stewart)
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 21

Now that I've moved up to the latest revision of rayshade, things
are wonderful :-).  It also runs rings around the previous version.
I've taken to running my 29K coprocessor at work almost 24 hrs. a
day cranking images out.

The down side is that I'm now forced to wait hours, days, or even
weeks for images on my AT clone at home :-(. 

I'm thinking about getting an IIT 2C87-20 fpu that's become available 
recently.  Apparently, this is a wazoo new implementation of 287/387
FPU technology in a '287 package.  The ads I've seen claim up to 20x
over a standard 80287 in an AT.  They also claim 24 extra regs and
matrix instructions.  Obviously one would need assembler routines
to use these features, but how much would the features actually help out?


Any comments?    [ or are all you all to busy soaking up CPU-hrs on your 
		   CRAY's ??  :-) ]


Tom Stewart